Officially called ' Acadiana ' Cajun country is made up of 22 parishes in Louisiana
and is home to the largest French speaking population in the US
. Of the 700,000 Acadians in Louisiana about 45% speak French
as a second Language .The area is named from L'Acadie ( now called
Nova Scotia ) where French settlers were exiled from by the British
in 1755 . The French gave the name Acadie to the maritime
section of New France . The origin of the name is still debated.
Some contend it is from the Micmac Indian word algatig, meaning
a camp or the Micmac word akade, meaning a place where things
abound. Others favor the Arcadia from classical Greece .

The ' capital ' of French Louisiana is the city of Lafayette.
Cajun country consists of three main districts, south of Lafayette
are bayous and swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin where the first Cajuns
settled . Northwest of Lafayette is the Cajun prairie made up of
rice fields and ranches . Southwest of Lafayette is the ' Cajun
Coast ' along the Gulf of Mexico .

The deportation was a deliberate attempt to destroy a people and wipe
out a distinct culture. It failed. The Acadians were too tough and too
resilient. Today, there are an estimated 3 million Acadian descendants
worldwide..

This
documentary covers over 300 years of history concerning the migration
and development of modern day Cajuns.

From Canadians To Acadians -- St. Martinville, La

Comparing Bayou country 1941 and today

Louisiana Story (1948) Nominated for an Oscar® and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for its musical score, Robert J. Flaherty’s last masterpiece is a visually stunning, lyrical tribute to a land and its people. Flaherty’s poetic vision of nature and the human spirit fills every frame of this amazing film. Through the eyes
of a young Cajun boy living on the Bayou, Flaherty tells a story of disruption and change when an oil rig brings industry into his pristine world. Listed on the National Film Registry as a national treasure,Louisiana Storyhas
finally been restored to its original glory.